A Cure for Insomnia
by LisiLouLah
Summary: Ginny's first night back at The Burrow after the Battle of Hogwarts, a very brief summary I know, but it's the start of the story! Harry and Ginny from Battle of Hogwarts up to September that year when Ginny goes back to Hogwarts.
1. 2nd May 1998

**2****nd**** May 1998**

Ginny stared at the ceiling. She was so tired but somehow sleep kept escaping her.

It was so hard to believe that she would never see Fred again. Wouldn't laugh with Tonks over dinner. Wouldn't see Remus raise his son Teddy.

To think he would never know his parents. Instinctively she knew her family would fill the gap but somehow it wasn't the same. At least he had Harry. Harry would always understand how he felt.

Her thoughts fell momentarily on when she thought him gone forever.

Just thinking it hurt; even though she knew it wasn't true – that he had won.

It hadn't sunk in that it was over. What little she had seen of Harry it didn't appear that it had sunk in for him either. She knew that the weight of the lives lost would weigh on him for years. That no matter what anyone said he would always feel they had died because of him.

Fred.

He hadn't been far from her thoughts since she had seen him lying in the Great Hall. Her heart ached. She daren't think what George was going through. He seemed to be completely numb, in shock. She couldn't blame him she was in shock herself.

Ginny heard Harry cry out. It wasn't loud enough to have woken anyone. Not that many of them were asleep.

Fed up of lying awake, Ginny slid out of bed careful not to wake Hermione in the camp bed. Ginny envied her her sleep but knew that she had had little sleep since August when they had left The Burrow.

Ginny slid quietly upstairs to Ron's room. Ginny smiled as she approached the door – trust Ron to sleep soundly, if loudly, at a time like this!

Cracking the door open Ginny peeked her head round. The small amount of light showed Harry lying in the spare bed. He lifted his head to see who had come in.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I couldn't sleep anyway. I wanted to make sure you were ok … well, not ok, I mean –"

"I know. It was just a nightmare. Go back to bed."

Ginny crept further into the room and sat on the bed next to Harry.

"I've been so worried about you – not knowing where you were or if they had caught up with you."

"I would have sent a message if I could, you know I would."

"I know. It didn't make it easier."

Ginny shivered. She wasn't sure if it was the cold of the relief that Harry had been ok all these months.

"Come here – you must be freezing."

Harry lifted the corner of his blanket to invite Ginny in. She looked him straight in the eye for the first time since walking into the room and raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"What?" asked Harry "Not like that! You're shivering!"

Ginny waivered as she felt a cold draft come across the room. She climbed in and rolled over to face Harry.

"Tell me about the last few months." Harry whispered as he brushed some hair from Ginny's face. She felt a buzz run down her whole body.

"Why?"

"I want to know. I thought about you the whole time."

"Me too."

Ginny could feel herself drifting off to sleep.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. We can talk about it properly."

"Ok." Harry wrapped the blanket tightly around them both and left his arm draped across her. She snuggled in closer as he felt sleep claim him too. The first dreamless sleep he had had in years.

**Author's Note**

**Hi folks, this is my first (published) fanfic – let me know what you think. I have more after this scene, but if you want me to leave it as a one shot let me know.**

**Lisa x**


	2. 3rd May 1998

**3****rd**** May 1998**

Harry woke to find Ginny missing from his bed. Confused he sat up to see Ron standing next to his bed.

Startled Harry jerked fully awake.

"What's up with you?" Ron asked.

"Nothing."

"Yeah, whatever! Smells like breakfast is ready – we should go downstairs, with all my brothers home for a change we don't stand much of a chance otherwise."

Realising what he had said Ron quietened. Harry's heart went out to him. Climbing up out of bed he patted Ron on the shoulder and said "I think it's your sister we should worry about most!"

"Yeah, probably!" Ron said, still a little quiet.

Harry entered the kitchen to a fantastic sight. Mrs Weasley had filled the table with food. She clearly had been up for some time cooking.

Ginny was setting the table and looked up as he approached.

"Morning Harry" she said.

"Morning"

As Mrs Weasley stepped into the pantry Harry took a chance to step closer.

"I woke up and you weren't there" he said quietly.

Ginny smiled shyly.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea for Ron to find us in bed!"

"I guess you're right" Harry smiled back.

"Mmm … breakfast smells good" Ron marched into the kitchen and sat down as Harry and Ginny jumped apart. Ron tucked into the food oblivious as Mrs Weasley returned from the pantry.

The next few days passed in a blur. Herminone had help from the Ministry to track her parents down in Australia and they had moved back into their home. Herminone felt bad leaving the Weasley's but knew that she needed to spend time with her parents, and to explain, fully, everything that had happened and to try and make up for spelling them to forget about her, even though they insisted that they understood why she had felt the need to do it.

It was Percy who first noticed how close Ginny and Harry were. Maybe because he hadn't seen them grow close slowly over the years. It was at Fred's funeral. He was glad that Ginny had someone to comfort her, to hold her the way that his mother, Fleur and Herminone had someone holding them. Then he realised that Harry was holding Ginny _exactly_ the way that his father was holding his mother, Bill was holding Fleur and Ron was holding Herminone. The realisation that his baby sister was nearly 17 and apparently had a serious boyfriend came as quite a wake up call on that dull rainy morning. He knew he had missed a lot over the last few years, but he hadn't realised he had missed so many major events.

**Author's Note**

**Thank you to VickyStarfish, Gryffindor777, DanielWhite and eladkse for your lovely reviews!**

**I won't always be updating this fast, but I had a few chapters on my computer ready, so I thought I should post them!**


	3. Late May 1998

**Late May 1998**

Ginny lay awake in bed a few days after Fred's funeral. Harry had slept in her room again that night and she always missed him after he left. So far nothing had happened further than chaste kisses, but it went without saying that they didn't want to get caught. Neither slept well without the other and on the days that they couldn't sleep together, Ginny barely slept at all and Harry had nightmares. Never anything he could remember, but enough to make him cry out, or wake in a hot sweat.

Fed up of lying there waiting for her family to get up, Ginny got up and pulled on a tracksuit and an old pair of trainers. In the last year at Hogwarts Ginny had taken up running early in the morning when no-one else was awake. She had even done so during previous summer holidays when her brothers had been too overwhelming, but she was usually back before anyone had noticed her missing. Since going into hiding she had missed her morning runs but knew it was too risky to leave the safety of Aunt Muriel's house.

The cool morning air was refreshing as Ginny jogged down the path towards Ottery St Catchpole. Ginny loved the feel of the blood pumping through her veins, the way that everything seemed clearer in her mind when she was running. She had come up with her best plans during her morning runs at Hogwarts, and the Carrows were lazy about their patrols and ignorant of most of the shortcuts so she was never caught out of bed. She smiled at the memories of running into corridors they didn't know existed when they had occasionally come close – though obviously the Carrows never realised! Ginny thought back to how she knew about most of the shortcuts, snogging Harry was always interesting; he knew the castle like the back of his hand, and knew far more of it's secrets then she had found with Dean. She had often wondered if even the Twins had known as much about the castle than Harry.

Ginny felt better as she walked into the kitchen half and hour later. She smiled at her mum, standing over the stove cooking bacon in a large frying pan. She looked up as Ginny walked in from the garden.

"Where have you been?" she asked, worried.

"I went for a run mum; I couldn't get back to sleep this morning." Seeing her mum's worried look she continued, "I was perfectly safe, I went through the village; nothing's going to happen to me with all those Muggles around."

"You don't know that, next time take one of your brother's with you"

"I go running to get away from my brothers!"

"Then take Harry! Just don't go alone, and I don't care if your not 17 yet, make sure you have a wand, just in case."

"I always have my wand with me!" Ginny replied smiling. Feeling only mildly reassured Molly smiled and let it go; the last thing she wanted was an argument. Seeing an opportunity she took it.

"I saw something odd this morning, I wondered if you knew anything about it?"

"Saw what?"

"I haven't been sleeping very well since … since Fred died. Anyway, the last few nights and mornings I've heard the floorboards on the landing creak, and I know we haven't been back home for a while, but I know this house doesn't make those types of noises on its own." Pretending not to notice Ginny's slowly reddening face she carried on "So, this morning I got up a little earlier than usual and I saw Harry leaving your room at a ridiculous hour and head back up the stairs to Ron's room. I was wondering if you could shed some light on this?" she finished grinning.

Ginny was bright red as she answered "We don't sleep well without each other."

Her mother raised her eyebrows.

"It's not like that, we talk mostly. I just feel safe when he's there."

Molly smiled. She had known for a few years that there was a strong bond between her daughter and Harry, she was just glad to see them getting back on track. "Then make sure it stays that way! I was married before I had sex," she started, facing the topic head on, as usual!

Ginny was saved from The Talk, by Charlie walking into the kitchen. She had never loved him more!

**Author's Note**

**Hi all,**

**Hope you're enjoying it so far, let me know what you think!**

**Lisa x**


	4. Early July 1998

**Early July - Harry's POV**

Harry was reading the newspaper over breakfast. It was hard to believe that it had been two months since the Battle of Hogwarts and the revival of business in Diagon Alley.

As Harry started on the Quidditch section at the back a small advert caught his eye. Ginny walked into the back door interrupting the idea quickly forming in his mind.

Ginny had started running in the mornings before breakfast. She claimed it helped her think and get her thoughts straight with everything that had happened over the past year. Personally, Harry thought she just relished the opportunity to get out of the house after being stuck at Aunt Muriel's for so long.

At first, Mrs Weasley had objected to Ginny going off on her own and harry had tried to go with her, but he couldn't keep up! Eventually Mrs Weasley had relented as the Death Eaters proved no threat, and anyway, the Muggles were no threat! Harry suspected that Ginny took her wand with her anyway, but she was hardly likely to need it.

As Ginny started to eat her breakfast she glanced over at Harry and caught him watching her. She smiled and Harry looked away, shy after being caught.

Harry and Ginny had been spending quite a bit of time together over the summer. Hermione had gone home to live with her parents after Kingsley had sent some wizards to fetch them and correct their memories. Ron spent quite a bit of time pining after her, though she did visit often, and them her.

Harry suspected that Mrs Weasley knew he often snuck into Ginny's room at night, but neither could sleep properly without the other. Harry still had dark nightmares when he tried sleeping alone, ones that woke him up un-rested. The pair quickly fell into a routine of sleeping together in Ginny's room, sometimes with Harry on top of the blankets in case they were caught, so they could prove the arrangement was innocent!

Their relationship was not official as yet, though Harry often felt when they were talking and joking together that it felt as it had before, when they had been together. He often considered broaching the subject with Ginny but always backed out; worried she would not feel the same way.

Harry put the paper down and took some more toast.

"It looks like it's going to be a nice day" Ginny said "Why don't we get Roan and Charlie and play a bit of Quidditch in the Orchard. Charlie has to go back to work next week, it'll be our last chance for 2 on 2 – unless we imperious Percy! She joked,.

Harry smiled at the thought of Percy playing Quidditch "Sounds good to me!" he replied, as he started from the table to fetch Ron and Charlie from upstairs. He passed George on the stairs and watched as he silently went downstairs and out the front door. George rarely spoke to anyone and generally came and went as he pleased.

It was understandable since he had lost Fred. He had improved greatly over the last two months. Mrs Weasley was happy that he was now eating with the family for evening dinner, even if he was often missing breakfast and lunch. As far as anyone knew he hadn't been back to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes since they had left a few months ago and no-one knew where he went during the day.

Harry continued up the stairs, concerned briefly about George and fetched Ron and Charlie for a morning playing Quidditch and thinking more about his idea for Ginny's birthday.

*****#####

**Ginny's POV**

A few days later, Ginny was jogging through Ottery St Catchpole on the return leg of her morning run. She stopped for a rest outside the Muggle sports shop as had become her habit recently.

"What are you doing here?" came a voice from behind, causing her to jump and spin, making a grab for her wand.

"Merlin! George, you made me jump. What are you doing here?"

"I believe I asked you first" he replied with his trademark grin.

Ginny smiled, pleased to see a shadow of himself return.

"I was just admiring the running shoes" she confessed. "These old ones make my feet hurt – but I daren't ask how much £60 is in galleons, I'm not sure I'd like the answer!" she admitted, smiling.

"About 12 Galleons" George smirked at the look of shock on his sister's face. "Come on, we'd best get back home for breakfast he said taking her hand in his arm and leading her out of the village towards The Burrow.

George kept her talking about trivial things all the way back to the house and it was only when they entered the kitchen and sat down to eat that Ginny realised that he hadn't answered her question. By then it was too late and he had started a conversation with Percy and how the Ministry was getting along. Ginny smiled. This was the most talkative she had seen him in months and it seemed he had finally started on the road to recovery.

*****#####

**Harry's POV**

A few days later Harry approached Mrs Weasley to discuss his idea for Ginny's birthday.

His plan involved having Ginny out of the house all day and didn't think it would go down well with her brothers if he stole her away on her coming of age.

Mrs Weasley knew that Ginny would love what he had planned and he had apparently been harbouring dreams about them getting back together for quite a while.

She suggested that as Ginny's birthday was on the Friday they had the family 'do' on the Saturday when her dad and brothers weren't at work. That way Ginny and Harry could have the day to themselves. She also offered to take care of the arrangements so her brothers wouldn't suspect anything.

Harry grinned wildly at her, thanking her for her help and going back upstairs to finalise his plans.

#####

**Author's Note**

**Sorry for the delay updating, I had to finish typing up the chapter and I've been working extra hours this week! Ginny's birthday next! Any guesses as to what Harry is up to? Prizes for correct guesses! :D**

**Lisa xxx**


	5. 11 August 1998

**11 August 1998**

Ginny knew Harry had something planned, but so far he was keeping tight lipped. When she came back from her morning run she found a large parcel on the kitchen table amongst the breakfast dishes. She wasn't expecting any presents until tomorrow, because her dad and brothers were in work all day.

Harry was sitting at the table while her mum finished cooking breakfast. He was smiling in a very suspicious manner.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I thought I wasn't getting any presents until tomorrow."

"That's not a birthday present" Harry replied, smiling. "You're getting your present tomorrow with everyone else's. Technically I owe you that, I missed your birthday last year, I'm just setting the record straight before tomorrow."

Ginny was not reassured by the growing smile on his face.

#~*~#

Ginny could feel a breeze across face, so she knew she was outside. Unfortunately, due to the blindfold Harry was making her wear, that was all she knew!

"Can I take this off now? Even you're not cruel enough to apparate somewhere as a stopping point just to put me off!"

"No, I guess not. You can take it off now!" Harry replied smiling.

Ginny pulled the blindfold from her eyes and gasped!

"Merlin! This is the Harpies Pitch! What are we doing here? I know there isn't a game on today."

"I read in The Prophet a few weeks ago, the Harpies and a few other teams are holding open tryouts today. I'm pretty certain none of them actually have spaces on the teams coming up, but it's a bit of fun after the war isn't it?"

"Sounds fantastic!" Ginny stated, grinning from ear to ear.

Ginny and Harry approached the sign in desk, Harry signing in as a Seeker and Ginny as both a Seeker and a Chaser.

"I want to keep my options open." She said with a cheeky smile, when Harry noticed.

There were not a great number of people present, but Harry and Ginny had fun spotting people from the Quidditch League. They made it easy because they were all wearing their team uniforms, but it quickly turned into a competition to see who could spot the professional players first.

"Ooh, look!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly. "Gwenog Jones!" She was hopping up and down in her excitement. Harry smiled; Ginny was clearly having a good day. She had flown well in the Chaser trials, coming fifth, although he was keen to point out as she returned, slightly disappointed, to his seat in the stand that she was the highest ranking female!

"O, Merlin! Quick hide me!" Harry said as he ducked slightly behind Ginny. She laughed, and gave him a questioning look. "I swear I just saw Cormac McLaggen go past! He must have come to try out." He pointed in Cormac's direction and Ginny saw that he looked more than slightly disappointed! Harry hadn't been paying attention to the rankings for the keepers, but he could tell he hadn't done as well as he thought he had!

Next up came the Seeker trials. The Snitch would be released and whichever of two seekers got it would move forward, kind of like a mini tournament. Harry and Ginny both did well, having ended up at opposite ends of the table. They didn't fly against each other until the final round.

They squared off as the referee, in this round Gwenog Jones herself, prepared to let The Snitch loose.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you Potter!" Ginny said with a smirk.

"You think I will!"

"You'd better – you've seen my Bat Bogey Hexes!" she grinned evilly.

Gwenog rolled her eyes as she released The Snitch, "3, 2, 1, fly!" she called.

Both Harry and Ginny pushed off, quick off the mark and flew directly for The Snitch as it moved east towards the spectators. Very quickly, they were neck and neck as they flew after The Snitch as it followed the curve of the stadium to the north.

The joking trash talk continued as they battled it out for The Snitch, but ultimately Ginny won with a last moment burst of speed, grabbing The Snitch with her nimble fingers.

Despite losing out in the last round, Harry was in high spirits as he left the stadium with Ginny.

"Excuse me! Miss Weasley!"

They heard someone shout after them as they reached the apparition point. It was Gwenog Jones heading towards them, trying to catch up before they left.

"Sorry, I had to speak to you before you left!" she said hurriedly, before they could leave. "I just wanted to say, I haven't seen flying like that in a long time! I wanted to say something after the last match, but I wanted to check some notes I have in my office – "

"Notes?" Ginny repeated, confused.

"O, yeah. Any Quidditch manager worth their salt keeps an eye on the Hogwarts teams. I confess though, none of the others seem to have gone to quite the lengths that I seem to, but let's face it, it's a mostly male sport and I need an all female team, so I need first dibs at the good ones" she protested a little too adamantly!

"Anyway, I wanted to see your track record form Hogwarts, and it seems you've never lost a match you've played in, and even though you're a fantastic seeker, you prefer Chaser, and it seems, after what I've seen today that you're just as good, if not better in that position."

Ginny beamed with pride, Harry was smiling broadly too.

"By my calculations," Gwenog continued, "you have another year at Hogwarts left, correct?" Ginny could only nod. "We haven't any spaces coming up at the moment, but if I may, could I owl you if anything comes up?"

"Yes, of course!" Ginny replied, ecstatic.

#~*~#

**Author's Note**

**Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy with work!**

**I'm disappointed that only one person had a guess at what Harry was up to, although I have had some lovely reviews! Thank you!**

**Hope you like this one; it's a bit longer than I originally planned, hence part of the delay in putting it up! Hope you like it!**

**Lisa x**


	6. 12 August 1998

**OMG! I just realised that I missed this chapter! I was just pushing shutdown on my computer and it hit me that I had posted the wrong chapter! So you lucky people you get two chapters in one night as I correct my mistake!**

**Lisa x**

#~*~#

**12 August 1998**

"So, what happened after that?" Hermione asked. They were sitting at the breakfast table, waiting for the rest of Ginny's brothers to come down to eat.

"We went to Grimmauld Place. Kreacher's been redecorating and tidying up, it looks amazing! Harry had this amazing dinner waiting and we ate and talked. Then we went into the living room and listened to the radio and talked more, and then all of a sudden – "

"What? All of a sudden what?" Hermione asked eagerly.

Ginny blushed, bright Weasley red. "We were kissing, it was just like old times, it felt great. It's why we were back so late last night; we didn't want to come home!"

Hermione smiled. She was glad to see Ginny and Harry back together, it had taken far too long!

#~*~#

When her brothers, including Charlie on a surprise visit back from Romania, had finished breakfast, Ginny was allowed to open her presents. From her parents, she received a beautiful gold watch, with tiny diamonds inlaid at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 points. From Bill and Fleur she got two tickets for the already sold out Weird Sisters concert at the end of the month, although Bill confessed that he and Fleur couldn't resist getting tickets for themselves too! Charlie had gotten her some dragon hide knee length boots. Ron and Hermione (she suspected it was mostly Hermione) had got her season tickets for the Harpies. Percy got her a broomstick servicing kit, which he admitted to buying the day before, having seen the broom that Harry had got her, and a book about female Quidditch players through the years.

Of all her brothers, it was George's present that surprised her the most. He'd got her the expensive trainers she'd been admiring in Ottery St Catchpole. She was speechless, well almost!

"Merlin, George! These must have cost you a small fortune! I can't accept these!"

"Yes, you can. It's your coming of age, it's traditional to spend more than normal on your present! Well it should be!" he responded to the questioning glances from his parents and other siblings. "And anyway, the shops been open for a few weeks now, and business is really good, so I can afford it!" he argued, knowing that mentioning the shop would quiet most arguments anyway.

Ginny gave him a big hug. As her mother started to clear the table Ginny noticed one small gift-wrapped box left. There was no label to indicate who it was from, and she had had presents from everyone.

"Whose is this?" She asked.

"It's from me!" replied Harry, slightly indignant. "I'm the only one left!"

"But you took me out yesterday, and you fed me last night! You got me a new broom for crying out loud!"

"Yes, but I told you the broom was last year's present, and yesterday didn't cost me anything, I didn't even cook, that was Kreacher!"

Ginny caved and tore off the paper. Inside was a little felt covered box. The lid was stiff as she eased it open. Inside was a beautiful topaz necklace and earring set, just the right colour for setting off Ginny's eyes. Everyone exclaimed as she showed them. Molly looked questioningly at Harry,

"They must have cost a small fortune!" she said, trying, but failing, to keep the worried tone from her voice.

"It wasn't that much Mrs Weasley, honest." Harry assured her. "Less than those trainers for sure!" Mrs Weasley decided to let it go when she saw Ginny admiring the gift. She couldn't deny her little girl such a nice gift, and from Harry too! Mrs Weasley was in a world of her own as she started on the dishes, thinking about how her youngest was suddenly an adult and how grown up all her children were.

"Mrs Weasley?" Harry asked. She didn't hear him. "Mrs Weasley?" he asked a bit louder. Bill smiled,

"You won't get through to her being polite in this house mate." He offered kindly. Harry smiled as Ron and George's disagreement about Fizzing Wizbee's got a little louder.

Harry tried again, a little louder still. "Molly!" he tried, starting to forget why he was bothering.

"MOLLY!" he said, almost shouting, as the rest of the Weasley's cottoned on to the fact she wasn't responding. Even Arthur looked up from the Daily Prophet, as Harry gave up and tried,

"Mum!"

"Yes, dear," Molly responded as she turned to discover she had an audience. "Did someone call?" she asked quietly, slightly unnerved by the staring and the smirks.

"Did you want some more to eat, or can I have the last sausage?" Harry asked, feeling stupid, having spent so much time trying to get her attention.

"Of course you can dear!" Molly replied, still not quite sure why she suddenly had all of the attention.

#~*~#

**Author's Note!**

**At the Quidditch trials in the last chapter, in my head it was an open tryout for the whole league, hosted at the Harpies Stadium, as opposed to a Harpies only tryout which, being an all-girl team, neither Harry nor Cormac McLaggen would have been eligible for. My apologies for the confusion and a big thank you to ****Remembering the Marauders**** for pointing it out!**

**Lisa x**


	7. Late August 1998

**If you're reading this and it looks familiar, it's because I posted the chapters in the wrong order! Sorry! I have now corrected my mistake, so if you just go back one, you should get the full story!**

**Lisa**

#~*~#

**Late August 1998**

To say Ginny was excited was an understatement! She had never been to a concert before, but tonight Bill and Fleur were taking her and Harry to the Weird Sisters concert; tickets they had got her for her birthday two weeks earlier.

Her Hogwarts letter had arrived that morning which had added to her excitement. While she wasn't looking forward to going back to where so many had died, she did at least have Hermione going with her. Her letter had also included the news that Ginny was going to be Head Girl as well as Quidditch Captain. Hermione, who was visiting Ron for the weekend had seemed rather miffed at missing out on the former, but Ron had managed to distract her while Ginny received congratulations from the rest of her family.

As a congratulations present her parents had given her some spending money for the concert. Ginny hoped she had enough for a t-shirt and a programme, but knew that they would probably be quite expensive.

Bill arrived through the Floo dead on 7pm with Fleur not far behind him.

"Ready?" Bill asked her, though clearly she was waiting for them to turn up.

"Yeah, just waiting for Harry to finish changing. He was late home from work" Ginny explained.

Looking at Fleur made Ginny feel a little unsure about her outfit. The plain black t-shirt was fine, but Ginny had had to resort to an old, rather snug, pair of jeans. Luckily they fit comfortably around the waist and she'd been able to disguise the fact that they were a little too short by tucking them into her new dragon hide knee length boots – her present from Charlie.

Fleur looked perfect in her knee length skirt and silver halter neck top which flattered her figure and colouring perfectly. It also highlighted the contrast between her and Bill, who was wearing his usual all black, grunge look and had simply swapped his fang earring for a skull and crossbone!

Harry appeared in record time; clearly Ginny was not the only one looking forward to the concert, his t-shirt was on back to front! They said their goodbyes to Mrs Weasley and took the Floo to the concert hall.

#~*~#

Ginny spent most of the concert wrapped in Harry's arms. It was nice to spend time as a couple and thankfully the few neighbours they had that noticed them at all seemed to be too distracted by Fleur's Veela looks to recognise Harry, although it was almost impossible to see his scar in his hairline in the near dark.

Bill and Fleur dropped Harry and Ginny off in The Burrow before heading back to Shell Cottage. Harry and Ginny made their way up to bed talking softly about the concert so as not to disturb the household.

As they lay in bed waiting for sleep to claim them, Ginny wearing her new Weird Sister's t-shirt with her pyjama bottoms, Harry whispered softly "Congratulations on Head Girl and Quidditch Captain." He could feel her smile in response.

"Thanks."

"I have a little something for you as a 'good luck next year' present. I was going to wait until the night before you went back, but now feels like the right time."

"You didn't have to do that!" exclaimed Ginny.

"I know, and anyway, you can't be mad. Technically I didn't spend any money on this one!" He reached over her, into the nightstand and fetched out a small flat brown-paper-wrapped parcel and handed it to her.

She opened it slowly, and was surprised to find a small rectangular -

"You got me a mirror?" she questioned.

"It's one of a pair. Sirius gave them to me a long time ago. They belonged to him and my dad, hey used them to talk to each other when they had to serve detention separately!"

"I remember. I thought the other one was broken."

"I went back to Privet Drive in the middle of the night last week." Harry confessed. "I knew they were unlikely to have gone into my room, and hoped it would still be there. If not, then nothing lost."

"Ok. You don't find it creepy that you effectively _broke in_, while they were _sleeping_?"

"Well, yeah! But it beat having to talk to them!" Harry admitted. "Although Dudley did hear me, and come and see what I was up to. He was quite nice actually. He said he was glad I was ok. Dedalus Diggle wasn't able to tell them anything when they dropped them back, as he hadn't been told anything at that point, just that Voldemort was dead and he could take them back home."

Ginny smiled sleepily and snuggled closer to Harry as they drifted off to sleep.

#~*~#

**Author's Note**

**FYI: My description of Ginny's jeans, is my way of saying skinny jeans, before they were fashionable!**

**Just for the record, Harry is working as an Auror (obviously), I just hadn't had a chance to fit it on somewhere yet.**

**Hope you liked it, I'm thinking of taking it up until Ginny goes back to school, and doing her later life in other stories. What do you think?**

**Lisa x**


	8. 1st September 1998

1st September 1998

Ginny sat on the bed looking around her room, her Hogwarts trunk on the bed next to her. She was sure she had forgotten something.

With all her stuff packed her room no longer looked like her own. The posters and the furniture were all the same but the clothes that were all out belonged to Harry who had practically moved in over the last month.

Ginny smiled. Her mother knew about the sleeping arrangements but her brothers were oblivious. She hoped it would stay that way until she was safely at Hogwarts.

Ginny mentally repacked her trunk; desperately trying to work out what she had forgotten when Harry burst in.

"Hi Gin. All packed?" he asked eyeing her trunk. Ginny frowned and asked for ideas for what she might have forgotten.

"Whatever it is, I'll post it to you! You'll remember as soon as the train pulls out! Just ask me in the mirror and it'll be at Hogwarts before you! What?" he asked in reponse to her lunge for the bedside table.

"My mirror!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I won't get you presents again if you're going to forget about them."

Ginny, now standing in front of him holding Sirius' mirror, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him her best puppy dog eyes.

"What of I do this everytime you get me something?" she asked as she leaned in for a kiss. Ginny kissed him hard and Harry quickly forgot why.

BANG

"Mum wants to know if you're ready to go." Ron had flung the door open with his usual tact and was trying to ignore the snogging in front of him. He couldn't however ignore the rude gesture from his sister as Harry broke the kiss off.

"So lady-like Gin! Mum's waiting in the kitchen – I'm meeting Herminone at King's Cross in 2 minutes." He kept talking as Ginny walked past him and down the stairs. Harry followed, levitating Ginny's trunk. As she reached the bottom she heard Ron ask,

"Why is Harry's stuff in your room?"

#~*~#

Ginny and Harry walked slowly through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ so as not to attract the attention of the Muggles. When they reached the platform they were met by an unpleasant sight. Ron had his tongue down Hermione's throat! Ginny heard Harry mutter something about a hypocrite. Ginny, while disgusted at her brother's behaviour, had to admit to feeling mildly jealous. Her and Harry had agreed to no public displays of affection. The press had been following him since the end of the war and they thought it best to keep their relationship out of the press. Harry worried about the damage Rita Skeeter could do with the truth!

Harry lifted Ginny's trunk onto the train and stowed it in an empty compartment for her. She flipped the blinds down with her wand to give them some privacy and kissed him hard.

"I can't believe I'm not going to see you 'til Christmas" she said.

"You'll see me before then!" Harry was mildly offended.

"Your mirror doesn't count"

"What about Hogsmeade weekends? And you know there's going to be more of them this year. What with the extra Muggleborns in the seventh year and that ones in first year who could come last year. McGonagall needs you all out of the castle at weekends."

Ginny didn't seem too impressed, but Harry kissed her to prevent anymore protests.

The couple turned at the sound of the compartment door opening; once again, Ron had walked in on them kissing! Hermione smiled at the scene and pushed past to greet the pair.

They were soon joined in the compartment by Luna and Dean, who had also chosen to finish school.

Harry and Ron left reluctantly and joined Mr and Mrs Weasley on the platform to wave goodbye. Mrs Weasley patted Harry on the arm as she turned back towards the barrier.

Ron looked puzzled. He turned to Harry and asked;

"Do you think we made the right decision?"

Harry thought for a moment.

"Yeah, we did." He smiled at Ron and turned to join Mr and Mrs Weasley going through the barrier.

#~*~#

Harry lay in Ginny's bed that night, letting her scent surround him. Mrs Weasley had announced at dinner that evening that there was no point in him and Ron sharing a room of Ginny's was empty. She had winked conspiratorially at him over George's shoulder when her sons had all but ignored her, in favour of second helpings.

Harry sighed and turned over. He looked over at his mirror, propped up on the bedside table and thought he briefly saw Ginny's brown eye looking back at him.

Ginny looked at Harry's green eyes in the mirror and smiled. She was lying in her bed, in her dormitory with the curtains drawn tight around her. Holding the mirror at eye height on the pillow next to her it was almost possible to imagine him lying next to her. They both fell into a dreamless sleep, the first they had had alone since May.

**Author's Note**

**Ok – that's the end! What did you think? Be honest! A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, and a huge one to Vicky Starfish for proof-reading everything and helping me when I had writer's block! :D**

**More to come soon,**

**Lisa x**


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